The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, Li Jing.

Once, when the Monkey King with the Gold Pupil Fire Eyes led the yokais in rebellion against the Heavenly Realm, he was appointed yokai-Subduing Grand Marshal.

He was the father of Crown Prince Nezha.

According to legend, he carved up his own flesh and bones and killed himself willingly.

It is said that Sakyamuni Buddha took pity on that Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, shaped a body from a lotus leaf to revive him, and then gave him a stone pagoda.1

That stone pagoda was the sacred treasure Thirty-Three Heavens Radiant Treasure Pagoda.

That small stone pagoda, small enough to fit in one hand, always scattered golden light and shone Radiantly.

Among the heavenly divine treasures belonging to the heavens rather than the earth, few can compare to the Radiant Pagoda.

When the Radiant Treasure Pagoda is thrown, it grows enormous and can imprison yokais.

A yokai trapped in the pagoda is burned by heavenly flames until not a bone fragment remains.

When held in hand, the pagoda glows and seeks out enemies to burn and kill on its own.

No matter how small or hidden, the pagoda will burn yokais even five kilometers away.

The Radiant Pagoda is equally effective for defense.

Rather, the true power of the Radiant Pagoda is to protect whoever wields the treasure.

When the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King cloaked his body with the pagoda, even the Monkey King’s pilum could not touch him.

The pagoda’s owner, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King himself, was also an exceptional heavenly deity.

There was no one who could stand against the heavenly king holding the Radiant Pagoda.

Dam Hyun’s eyes went wide when he saw the lotus Yu Su-rin had drawn.

“Wow!”

It was natural.

The lotus Yu Su-rin held had clearly been withered, yet in the blink of an eye life returned to it.

Moreover, the dense spiritual energy emanating from that single flower.

It was nearly at the level of a sacred treasure.

It was said to be He Xian Gu’s sacred treasure.

“The Eight Immortals…”

The Eight Immortals are the immortals that include Yeo Dong-bin.

They are genuine sword immortals older than Zhang Sanfeng.

Isn’t it said they stand shoulder to shoulder with the immortal who subdued the Great Dragon?

According to records, He Xian Gu always carried a lotus.

That surely was He Xian Gu’s heavenly divine treasure.

“Is that… real?”

What he meant was whether the lotus Yu Su-rin held really He Xian Gu’s property.

Yu Su-rin laughed, “Pahaha.”

“It’s not the genuine one. But it’s not a fake either.”

“What, you mean it’s an imitation?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. However, I borrowed power from He Xian Gu, and this lotus borrowed its rank in the same way. It’s an ordinary lotus but it produces similar effects.”

The lotus petals disassembled one by one and swirled around them.

What kind of power would that produce?

“If the opponent borrowed Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s power, they’ll likely be holding an imitation that borrows the Radiant Pagoda’s power, just like mine.”

Of course.

Unlike ordinary treasures, a heavenly divine treasure is literally owned by that heavenly deity; it wouldn’t be casually lying around the earth.

“If the real Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King held the Radiant Treasure Pagoda, there’d be no way to pass by.”

Yu Su-rin explained the plan.

He Xian Gu’s lotus petals prevent villains’ bodies from moving and show them illusions.

Using that to quickly create an opening and slip past the enemy was best.

“If the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King is lending his power, the eyes of the Heavenly Realm will likely be watching as well.”

She turned to Ha-jun and asked.

“Young Hero Baek Ha-jun. Could you look over there once more?”

A pre-movement reconnaissance.

Ha-jun said nothing and climbed back to the top of the tree.

Then he focused his eyes.

A superlative master’s vision is sharp enough to discern things far away.

But on top of that, by concentrating demonic energy in his eyes, the dark night became as clear as day.

Swoooosh—

The dark pre-dawn.

The sky was just beginning to pale, but the forest remained dark.

Through Ha-jun’s veined eyes, he spotted someone far off.

There was a man holding a stone pagoda, and exactly eleven people beside him.

“The one in the center holding the pagoda, and five people kneeling beside him.”

Yu Su-rin’s ears pricked up.

“And six others are armed… and on guard.”

“Wait. The five kneeling people?”

Ha-jun looked at the kneeling figures.

He couldn’t see clearly, but they seemed to have hoods covering their eyes.

“They have hoods on and… oh.”

One of them, still kneeling, drew a dagger.

Then, without hesitation, he plunged it into his own neck.

Blood spurted, and the man collapsed.

All five of them killed themselves in the same way.

With no sound, from this distance it seemed as unreal as a staged play.

“They all… committed suicide.”

“…don’t tell me….”

And the man who held the pagoda.

He wore ornate armor as if he were a street performer.

He even wore a feathered crown as if imitating a heavenly general.

His hair stood up dramatically.

The stone pagoda in his hand emitted a radiant light.

Even Ha-jun sensed that something significant was happening.

A moment ago the man had looked like a mere eccentric holding a pagoda.

“No way, he’s going to incarnate here… Watch out!”

As Yu Su-rin exclaimed in horror.

What stood there was definitely the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

And his gaze turned toward Ha-jun.

Though the figure looked tiny to Ha-jun like an ant, their eyes clearly met.

The tip of the Radiant Pagoda he held glowed mysteriously.

Space shimmered and warped like a heat haze, and then….

A burst of light detonated.

The nape of Ha-jun’s neck was abruptly grabbed.

Before he knew it, Yi-gang had leapt up and pulled Ha-jun away.

Ha-jun fell from the tree.

Where he had just been, Yi-gang stood.

He had somehow drawn Shooting Star Fang, and White Fang moved as if alive.

Yi-gang seized his sword and pulled his body back.

His arms were pulled back as if just about to receive an attack.

And as Yi-gang swung his sword….

Flash!

Light seared his vision.

An awareness of something.

And a human reaction.

There is inevitably a time lag between them.

For example, when you see a flying arrow.

That image enters the pupil, passes the retina, and is relayed to the brain.

The brain instinctively decides to dodge.

When the brain issues the command to move the limbs, it travels through the spinal nerves to the extremities.

It’s a structure that inevitably causes a tiny delay about the time it takes to blink.

In that sense, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s attack is structured so a person cannot avoid it.

Having received a sacrifice, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King substituted it as causality and manifested on this earth.

Even the finely made counterfeit pagoda, in that moment, borrowed the rank of the true heavenly divine treasure, the Radiant Pagoda.

Light generated from the pagoda’s tip.

A beam that would incinerate the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s foe.

At many times the speed of sound, the beam shot from afar toward where Yi-gang stood.

But Yi-gang perfectly countered that supersonic attack.

As if in response to his Supreme Ultimate Technique, which once faced Absolute masters who struck like lightning.

Even Yi-gang himself did not know how the impossible had become possible.

Perhaps, just as the Supreme Ultimate Technique transcended reality, his bodily reactions had also transcended the real.

But even Yi-gang could not completely erase a beam already fired.

A conifer tree that seemed centuries old was snapped and thrown aside.

A blast of heat and a roar erupted together.

The broken tree immediately caught fire.

Ash and sparks scattered in all directions.

Yi-gang landed.

Shooting Star Fang was glowing a deep red hot.

It was a sword he had long been with, but this was a first.

If it weren’t for the Meteorite Sword, he might not have been able to respond.

“Su-rin! Ha-jun!”

Fortunately, the group was all safe.

“Junior Uncle Yi-gang!”

Yu Su-rin clutched the lotus in panic.

She had seemed confident until just now, but this situation was beyond what she’d expected.

Yi-gang realized he could not rely solely on Yu Su-rin.

“Go! Break through the way you originally planned!”

Whether they went stealthily or loudly, it was a path they had to pass through anyway.

The enemy had already observed them.

Yi-gang, ready to move, changed direction as if bending.

And he swung his sword once more.

The straight beam struck Yi-gang’s sword and refracted up into the sky.

This time it was somewhat better.

The beam only scorched the sky and briefly brightened it; there was no blast of heat or explosion.

But a man was running through the straight path cleared through the forest.

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, holding the stone pagoda in one hand.

In that moment Yi-gang realized.

They could not pass without fighting.

So it was right for Yi-gang to step forward.

“I’ll follow right behind!”

Shouting that, Yi-gang ran straight at the approaching Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

Ha-jun tried to join Yi-gang, but Dam Hyun dragged him away.

It was fortunate.

As Yu Su-rin ran forward, lotus petals swirled and obscured their figures.

Yi-gang no longer paid them any mind.

He only focused on the Evil Cultists ahead.

More precisely, he only targeted the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King who had possessed that body.

「If it’s too much, tell me.」

The Heavenly Demon’s voice carried a tone of itching anticipation.

Yi-gang felt the same.

Now that he had reached the Absolute Realm.

Could his sword even strike heavenly deities and immortals?

Yi-gang swung Shooting Star Fang.

Ka-ga-ga-gang!

The sword scraped against Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s armor.

Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King calmly blocked the attack, then swung the stone pagoda like a weapon.

A chilling current brushed past Yi-gang’s nape as he prepared to counter.

Trusting that feeling, Yi-gang leapt upward instead of meeting it head-on.

That choice was correct.

As the pagoda approached, it instantly grew to a gigantic size.

The pagoda slammed into the spot where Yi-gang had stood, sending up a cloud of dust.

Through that cloud, a single sword pierced.

Yi-gang thought that with that surprise strike he would surely wound the enemy.

But the sword only passed by the side of Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s face.

For a moment Yi-gang couldn’t understand why his blade had missed.

“You!”

The roar the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King unleashed up close was itself akin to a sound technique.

Yi-gang tightened his Qi to protect his eardrums.

“I’ve never heard that a creature like you was in the Guardian Sect! Reveal your identity!”

He swung his sword aiming at the roaring Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s throat.

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King is not a master of martial arts.

His movements were fast and his strength massive, but he did not move like a master.

Yi-gang’s blade tip, an inch beyond, would surely slice through the throat.

He believed it without doubt, yet again the blade missed.

Sparks clearly flew in the empty air.

There was nothing lacking or excessive in Yi-gang’s movement.

But the blade tip had clearly struck something and only cut empty space.

「Dodge, higher!」

Just as Yi-gang had launched a surprise attack, so had the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

He moved the pagoda in a manner that said he’d kill them if they did not answer.

Whoooom!

Such a relatively slow attack could be avoided.

Yi-gang sprang up.

But that was a wrong thought.

The pagoda’s tip flashed, and a beam poured down onto Yi-gang in midair.

This time too he deflected the beam with his sword.

But then the pagoda itself surged upward from below.

There was no longer any way to dodge.

Yi-gang layered sword aura onto his blade and collided with the stone pagoda.

And that, in the end, proved to be a grievously wrong choice.

1. TL/N: Okay, this is wrong because it was Nezha who was killed himself like that and was resurrected from lotus roots ️

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep